Heterologous Expression of Plantaricin 423 and Mundticin ST4SA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Antimicrobial peptides or bacteriocins are excellent candidates for alternative antimicrobials, but high manufacturing costs limit their applications. Recombinant gene expression offers the potential to produce these peptides more cost-effectively at a larger scale. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a popular host for recombinant protein production, but with limited success reported on antimicrobial peptides.

Invasive grasses of sub-Antarctic Marion Island respond to increasing temperatures at the expense of chilling tolerance.

Background And Aims: Global warming has large effects on the performance and spatial distribution of plants, and increasingly facilitates the spread of invasive species. Particularly vulnerable is the vegetation of cold environments where indigenous plants selected for cold tolerance can have reduced phenotypic plasticity and associated lower capacity to respond to warming temperatures. In contrast, invasive species can be phenotypically plastic and respond positively to climate change, but at the expense of stress tolerance.

Models used to screen for the treatment of multidrug resistant cancer facilitated by transporter-based efflux.

Purpose: Efflux transporters of the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC)-superfamily play an important role in the development of multidrug resistance (multidrug resistant; MDR) in cancer. The overexpression of these transporters can directly contribute to the failure of chemotherapeutic drugs. Several in vitro and in vivo models exist to screen for the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs against MDR cancer, specifically facilitated by efflux transporters.

Feeding practices and nutritional status of HIV-exposed and HIV-unexposed infants in the Western Cape.

Background: Optimal infant- and young child-feeding practices are crucial for nutritional status, growth, development, health and, ultimately, survival. Human breast milk is optimal nutrition for all infants. Complementary food introduced at the correct age is part of optimal feeding practices.

Efavirenz Capsule Sprinkle and Liquid Formulations With Didanosine and Emtricitabine in HIV-1-infected Infants and Children 3 Months to 6 Years of Age: Study AI266-922.

Background: AI266-922 was an open-label, dose-ranging study that assessed the pharmacokinetics, safety and efficacy of efavirenz (EFV) in children (3 months to 6 years).

Methods: Antiretroviral-naïve and antiretroviral-experienced HIV-1-infected children received once-daily EFV as oral solution or capsule sprinkle plus didanosine and emtricitabine (FTC). Pharmacokinetic analyses were undertaken at week 2 and repeated at weeks 10 and 18 after an EFV dose change or switch from oral solution to capsule sprinkle.

The effect of calcination on multi-walled carbon nanotubes produced by dc-arc discharge.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were synthesized by dc-arc discharge in helium atmosphere and the effect of calcination at different temperatures ranging from 300-600 degrees C was studied in detail. The degree of degradation to the structural integrity of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes during the thermal process was studied by Raman spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and High resolution transmission electron microscopy. The thermal behaviour of the as prepared and calcined samples was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis.

SLC11A1 (NRAMP1) but not SLC11A2 (NRAMP2) polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to tuberculosis in a high-incidence community in South Africa.

Setting: Stellenbosch University Faculty of Health Sciences, and metropolitan Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Objective: To investigate whether the reported association between SLC11A1 (also NRAMP1) polymorphisms and susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) can be confirmed in a different population, and whether polymorphisms in SLC11A2 (also NRAMP2, DCT1, DMT1) are associated with TB.

Design: A case-control study design was used to compare the frequencies of five polymorphisms in SLC11A1 and three in SLC11A2 between a group of bacteriologically confirmed TB patients and healthy community controls.

Association between tuberculosis and a polymorphic NFkappaB binding site in the interferon gamma gene.

Interferon gamma is believed to be crucial for host defence against many infections. To test the hypothesis that a polymorphism in the gene for interferon gamma (IFNG) is associated with susceptibility to tuberculosis, we did two independent investigations. In a case-control study of 313 tuberculosis cases, we noted a significant association between a polymorphism (+874A-->T) in IFNG and tuberculosis in a South African population (p=0.

Accurate microsatellite typing and inter-study comparison: pitfalls and solutions using interferon-gamma (IFNG) and natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 2 (NRAMP2) genes as examples.

Microsatellite typing is frequently used in disease diagnosis and in genetic association studies. Inter-study consistency and comparability is essential in both applications. In this study, we show that the interlaboratory comparison of microsatellite sizes is often discrepant and misleading.

The cardioprotective effect of wine on human blood chemistry.

We investigated the in vivo effects of regular consumption of red and white wine on the serum lipid profile, plasma plasminogen activator-1, homocysteine levels, and total antioxidant status. This study confirmed that moderate consumption of wine, red more than white, exerts cardioprotective effects through beneficial changes in lipid profiles and plasma total antioxidant status.

The in vivo antithrombotic effect of wine consumption on human blood platelets and hemostatic factors.

We compared the in vivo effect of red vs. white wine consumption on platelet aggregation, responsiveness and membrane viscosity, plasma total antioxidant status, thromboxane B(2) levels, and fibrinolysis. Diet and red wine had a synergistic effect in decreasing platelet aggregation.

Identification of the antigenic proteins of Cowdria ruminantium.

Immunoblotting of Cowdria ruminantium proteins with sheep or bovine antiserum identified 2 antigenically conserved proteins, one being an immunodominant 31 kDa and the other a minor 27 kDa protein. These proteins are present in the electrophoretic profiles of the Welgevonden, Ball 3 and Kwanyanga stocks and are recognized by sheep antiserum to the Welgevonden, Ball 3, Kwanyanga, Mali, Comoro, Breed, Germishuys, Kümm and Mara stocks and by bovine antiserum to the Welgevonden stock of C. ruminantium.

Gastric juice carcino-embryonic antigen estimation. A useful additional test in the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma?

There is a high incidence of gastric carcinoma in the coloured population of the Western Cape. Diagnostic tests other than barium meal examination or gastroscopy were investigated. In this study 50 patients were assessed and grouped according to the gastroscopic and histological findings.